Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Three Islamic parties in Parliament are pushing for the inclusion of Islamic Syariah law in the Constitution to pave the way for its implementation in Indonesia.

The parties, including Vice-President Hamzah Haz's United Development Party (PPP), want to bring up the issue during the constitutional amendment debate in the ongoing Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the country's highest legislative body.

Prior to the nine-day session, which started last Thursday, all the parties had agreed to exclude the controversial topic of Syariah from the constitutional debates. "We know we were supposed to drop this issue but we can't close our eyes to the aspirations of Muslim communities," said PPP legislator Habil Marati.

Fundamental Muslim groups last week staged rallies demanding Syariah imposition in the country. But other than these small groups, the implementation of Syariah law has attracted little support in the world's most populous Muslim country. Political analyst Azyumardi Azra said the Muslim majority in Indonesia did not support Syariah law because of cultural and sociological influences.

The other two parties pushing for Syariah law are the minority Crescent Star Party and the Justice Party. Crescent Star Party legislator Hamdan Zoelva said the inclusion of the phrase "the obligation to implement the Syariah for Muslims" in the 1945 Constitution could become the legal basis for the issuance of laws with an Islamic slant.

But many are sceptical of the parties' efforts to include Syariah in the Constitution, saying this was merely to garner political support ahead of the general election scheduled for 2004.

Observers say there is little chance the proposal will succeed, as the parties do not have the backing of major parties such as the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle; Golkar, and Indonesia's two largest Muslim groups Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah.